Many artists would leap at the opportunity to work with Justin Vernon, the highly respected indie-rock star better known by his stage name, Bon Iver. But the legendary gospel-music group The Blind Boys of Alabama, which between 2001 and 2009 won five Grammys, is not one of them.

“Our manager came to us one day, and asked us: ‘How would you like to do a project with Justin Vernon?’ And we said: ‘Fine. Who is he?’ We hadn’t heard of him,” recalled Jimmy Carter, the Blind Boys’ co-founder and tireless lead singer.

Then again, with four of its five members being octogenarians, this pioneering gospel group wasn’t immediately familiar with some of its other illustrious past recording and performing partners. Those partners have included Ben Harper, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, Peter Gabriel, the late Lou Reed and such former and current San Diegans as Tom Waits and Nickel Creek alums Sara and Sean Watkins.

"Sara and Sean are wonderful people," Carter said, speaking from his home in Birmingham, Alabama. "I wish they were doing this tour with us."

The Blind Boys of Alabama sing "I Shall Be Free"

The Blind Boys, who bring their annual "Go Tell It on the Mountain" Christmas tour to the Poway Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday, hit it off with Vernon, a longtime fan of gospel music in general and the Blind Boys specifically.

“We got to know him and he’s a very nice man,” Carter said, speaking from his home in Birmingham, Alabama.

“Go Tell It On The Mountain,” The Blind Boys of Alabama Christmas Show

The result is the new Blind Boys’ album, “I’ll Find a Way,” on Sony Masterworks. It was produced by Vernon, a former Religious Studies major at the University of Wisconsin, at his home state studio in Eau Claire.

"Justin had a variety of songs," Carter said. "Some were old-time, original traditional gospel songs and some was new material. So it’s a good mixture and we thought it was a great variety, so let's go for it. We would go to his house every day to record, but we had our own hotel in Eau Claire. He had all the conveniences. As a mater of fact, he had a cook at his house who knew how to cook soul food, so we had a good time!"

The 11-song release teams the pioneering gospel vocal group with Vernon, a band led by his musical partner, Phil Cook, and such guest singers as Patty Griffin and Vernon pals Casey Dienel of White Hinterland, Shera Worden of My Brightest Diamond and Merrill Garbus of Tune-Yards.

Not all the pairings work and the Blind Boys sometimes sound like guests on their own album. But the five songs the group does on its own shine, as does its album-closing rave-up, “Jubilee,” with Griffin. Besides, despite having at least 64 albums and a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award to its credit, this 69-year-old group has always had a higher calling.

“When the Blind Boys started out (in 1944), we had no idea it would last this long,” said Carter, 82, the only member to have also sung in the rival group the Blind Boys of Mississippi.

“The only thing we wanted to do is get out and sing gospel music to the people. You had to have money to live, but we weren’t even interested in that so much. We just wanted to sing gospel, because we love it. Music is an ongoing learning process. So, every day, you learn a little more.”

When not touring or recording, Carter is an avid and knowledgeable sports fan.

"I like baseball, basketball and football, but I'm not a fan of the San Diego Chargers," he said. 'I don't know why, but I just don't like the team in San Diego. I love San Diego, though. My favorite team right now is the Seattle Seahawks. They are having a good season. What are they, 9 and 1?"

Carter has been part of a winning musical team since he was a teenager. At one point in the 1950s, The Blind Boys recorded several gospel singles for Specialty Records, the Los Angeles label whose roster included Little Richard, Guitar Slim and Lloyd Price.

When another of the label's artists, former Soul Stirrers singer Sam Cooke, began to fare well after transitioning from gospel to pop, Specialty offered the Blind Boys a lucrative new contract to switch from sacred music to secular. The group's response was a swift and unanimous "no," Carter recalled.

"We were dedicated to gospel and we were determined to keep singing that as long as we had a group together," he said. "That's what we've always done and we're not going to deviate...

"We've performed at the White House for the Clintons, the Bushes and the Obamas. It's great to go into the East Room and actually shake hands with the president. And Laura Bush was very nice; all of them were. The real highlight for me was singing for Obama. Because I never thought, in our lifetime, we'd see a black president."

At 82, Carter finds being on the road for concert tours more wearing than it used to be. While he is not a gambling man, he sees Las Vegas as a possible remedy for the rigors of the road.

"I'm not a young man anymore and traveling is becoming a little tough," he said. "I'd like to go to a place like Las Vegas or Branson (Missouri) and maybe have a six-month (performance) residency there. It would give me a little more rest. I'm not complaining about my traveling. But, as you grow older, you just can't do it as much."